Wishing you a hopeful new year

 As the year draws to a close today I mostly think of it as a wasteful year. Through out the world there were wasteful wars where thousands of lives were lost for no good reason. We came so close to peace so many times but there wasn't anything decisive. There were numerous air accidents involving civilian and military aircrafts. Each time it made me feel awful for the parties involved. It was such a sad waste of life. They scarred me so much that I nearly had a morbid fear of flying - for myself as well as of anytime anyone from my family travelled. Luckily we made our journeys in safety and I pray the skies are safe for everyone. 

I went through a redundancy cycle. I have 4 close friends. Each one of us went through a redundancy cycle in their respective jobs. Everyone ended up having a different outcome. But it was tenure of stress and unwanted friction in  our lives which I felt  was unnecessary and wasteful. We all believe we have come out stronger, more fulfilled and better off on the other side. And there is perhaps only one way to get from one point to another, to get from one job to another.

My sister battled health issues for close to 4 months because of a misdiagnosed condition which was such a strain mentally and physically.

As a family I felt we lost quite a bit of money. Some were for random reasons like a bad purchase here or being overcharged for a home improvement there. But the worst was being charged a fine of £100 for overstaying  a parking by 35 seconds. It was just the most outrageous and horrible of them all.

But it was not all gloom and doom. Chiyaa turned 13 and we made a  trip to Norway. It was a surreal and out of the world experience. It was the stuff of dreams to be in the culturally thriving city of Oslo and then make our way into the Arctic circle and be in Tromsø. The holiday planner in me loved the planning and execution of the whole trip.

In May my parents came over. We celebrated their stay assuming it to be the last time they would be in the UK. We planned a trip to Canterbury which for me was lovely and rare one. Once they went back we settled into the usual routine. I was in my new job with a new projects and I loved every bit of it. It was the most fulfilling work experience in a long long time.

The project winded down and I am on my next long term project. I think I feel settled there too. There hasn't been a dull moment at my new work place. And thankfully in December we had a quick holiday to Berlin when we built a number of amazing wonderful memories.

We have looked after a lot of puppies and gained so much experience. We have read so many books and I love how the girls are hooked as readers. We have laughed and cried and grown and lived. 

In the coming year I hope to grow roots and stabilise in life, work and relationships. I hope we all recover from whatever scars we have been dealt this year. I hope for peace, stability and enriching experiences for everyone. Wishing anyone coming by a very happy new year!

Each one a new experience

 We look after guide dogs when their primary raisers are away for whatever reason. We had the opportunity to look after 2 in close succession.

One was tiny Cocoa who was only 12 weeks old. She was the youngest puppy we had handled. We did not have a great experience with Lucky so we thought it would be our attempt at redemption with another little female dog. She was a tiny little piece of joy, chaos and fun. She came into our house on a very cold and eventually rainy day. She was a bit out of place initially and had a few accidents around. But once the girls came back from school she was much better settled. She played with the girls like crazy. Since she was in that stage where she can be a could bite a bit, we chose to dress in thicket clothing. We were not complaining given the temperatures of this glorious island 😑

She was an early riser, and of course we had to be up with her. The girls could sleep if they wanted, but who would want to miss a turn with the lovely pup? So we would all be up around 7 even on a weekend and be with her. She was a silly goose, playing around with slippers and her toys. She would tire quite easily and then take a long nap. This was our turn to play card games and the like. I really love how looking after a puppy no matter for how long a duration forces us to spend time together as a family. Be it just sitting around the pup playing card games, watching some show or going for a walk. It is a really uplifting bonding exercise.

Once Cocoa went back, we were due to be looking after Scamp the Champ. Now Scamp is a pure golden retriever. He is just awesome. He is a majestic dog with a lot of sass and energy. He has such a big personality. We were excited to look after him. It was amazing to notice the changes in him as he has grown. Earlier he was quite an aloof dog. But this time we found him so well bonded with us. He would wave the kids goodbye when they left for school and would come to the window to keep looking at them. He would also greet us with such enthusiasm when we came back. Sadly most of the days with him were quite rain filled as well. Though he surely had the stamina to go on much longer walks, we were heavily restricted. We had to resort to shorter walks but that didnt take away the spurts of football in the garden. Again the times he forced us to hang out in the garden or sit around the dinner table fooling around with him was such an enriching time. We can only thank this lovely dog for the experience. He goes back tomorrow. After that we will surely feel the pang. But hopefully there will be many more tiny ones to amaze us next year.